


get some rest

by sweetgoodgraciousangel



Category: Ni no Kuni
Genre: Sickfic, evan is sick and tries to hide it, papa roland says lmfao ur funny kiddo get back in bed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-23
Updated: 2018-04-23
Packaged: 2019-04-26 14:26:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14404035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweetgoodgraciousangel/pseuds/sweetgoodgraciousangel
Summary: Evan is sick but tries to hide it, fearing that it is irresponsible of a king if he took a break from his duties. Roland says otherwise.





	get some rest

Evan splashed his face with the cold water running in the sink. He took a deep breath and looked at himself in the mirror once more, relishing in the temporary relief from the absolute horrible feeling he felt clogging up his head. It did wonders, but it didn’t last long, and he hunched over the sink again with a groan. He had the most horrible headache, and his nose was so stuffy he’d be lucky if he could take a deep breath at this point.

He did not feel good at all. He wasn’t feeling spectacular when he went to sleep last night, but he attributed that to exhaustion since it’d been a long day and he’d been busy at every corner.

But this morning was even worse than what it had been. He felt like he hadn’t gotten any sleep at all despite resting even more than he usually had. Upon waking up late, he panicked and scrambled to dress himself for the morning meal (despite the fact eating was the last thing on his mind when he was as nauseous as he was now), but he couldn’t even make it through washing his face without feeling completely drained simply from moving from one place to another.

Surely by now everyone was waiting on him, and should he keep them waiting any longer they would be concerned. And a king has duties to focus on, not on the fact that they felt bad.

Evan managed to scrub his face, then patted it dry with a towel. He felt a little more awake, but no better physically than before.

He was sluggish dressing himself, trying to be mindful of the time knowing he was already way late, but…

Finally, there was a knock at his door, and a familiar voice calling out to him.

“Evan? Are you awake?”

He nearly jumped. Jeez, this is exactly what he was afraid of. That was no doubt Roland.

He fumbled for a few seconds, mind working to try and make up an excuse, debating on answering honestly about not feeling well, but didn’t. There were more important matters to attend to today.

“I’m awake! I slept in late. I’m almost ready.”

There was a long pause, and Evan could _feel_ Roland contemplating investigating further, but there was the sound of him turning on his heel, and sweat dropped off of his forehead in relief.

“Alright. Food’s ready, so come get it while it’s hot.”

“Understood!”

Evan sat back on his bed as he pulled his shoes onto his feet. He knew he looked pale, but if he played it right, he could go about this day normally. He couldn’t let his responsibilities go because of a cold or some allergies he’s managed to get ahold of. It just didn’t settle in him as something that a ruler would do, and so he made his way toward his still closed door and took a deep breath.

He would be fine. He just had to act like he didn’t feel absolutely exhausted.

Coming out of his room and making his way into the area where they all joined together for meals, Evan was the center of attention as soon as he entered. He gave a slight wave to the table, coming to the big seat at the end and sat down.

“Finally,” Tani said around a mouthful of food. “Talk about sleeping in late. You’re awake before any of us most the time.”

Evan shrugged, laughing nervously.

“I guess I must have overworked myself yesterday. I’ll be more careful today.”

He ignored the askance pointed stare Roland gave him. So much for not being suspicious, so to make up for that slight slip up he dug into the admittedly delicious food, despite the fact it immediately was a no-go for him. He was definitely not up to eating. It made his stomach turn in discontent and certainly everyone at the table had to have noticed the face he made when he took the first bite.

Everyone ate quietly. Roland kept casting him glances now and then, and Evan did his best to interact as he usually would and drank long sips of his drink in between bites to make it more bearable. He was hoping all the conversation would drive away the attention from the fact he looked unwell.

And by the end of the meal (Evan cleared a decent portion of the plate, surprisingly enough), he thought everything was fine, and he was about to go prepare for his usual tasks he took on early morning when Roland caught him by the back of his cape, causing Evan to turn around in surprise. He looked concerned.

“Roland?”

He put the back of his hand to Evan’s forehead, and his eyes shot down to the ground in shame.

Busted.

Roland always did seem like he had the sharpest senses. Of course he’d catch onto what was going on, be it sooner than later.

“...You have a fever.” He commented with a sigh, dropping his hands and Evan’s ears went flat against his hair. He shifted his weight from one foot to another.

“I’ll be fine, I promise - “

“No.”

Roland crossed his arms, shaking his head. He looked stern.

“You can’t disregard your health, Evan. You need to get some rest.”

Evan winced. “But I can’t just _not_ be a king because - “

“A kingdom will not fall apart because its ruler takes one day - or maybe two or three - to get better from a sickness.”

Evan _knew_ that, but it still didn’t sit right with him. His father hadn’t, so -

...Well, now that he thought about it, when his father was feeling unwell he’d rest and take on what duties he felt up to doing. He remembered his father not _liking_ the idea of resting because of a sickness, but he did it anyway so he could be back on his feet in no time to take upon his tasks as usual. Especially when Evan was sick, where he would insist taking care of his son himself and wouldn’t leave his side until he knew he was better.

Evan knew this would be what his father wanted. He’d want to see Evan taking care of himself and doing the right thing for his kingdom and being sure to look after his own health. On top of that, he had no doubt in his mind Aranella would have wanted the same.

Upon seeing his hesitation, Roland reached out and patted his shoulder gently and reassuringly.

“That’s why we’re all here. We take over what duties we can so you can rest. Now, no buts, you need to get back to bed. Leander?”

Roland called out to the other man as Evan let his shoulders slump, knowing when he was defeated. But the thought of more rest wasn’t entirely unwelcome to him. He could have slept in more that morning had he not thought about people worrying about him.

It seemed he’d have to go back to bed, but he supposed he felt a little more okay with it knowing that Roland and the others would be able to handle what they could. He was discontent simply thinking he would have shoved it all on them and slept his days away until he was better, but they were reliable, and great friends to have.

“Yes?” Leander finally came back around the corner where he exited into the hall not that long ago. He hadn’t gone far apparently.

“Would you mind getting medicine for Evan from the Hubble-Bubblery? He’s not feeling well.”

Leander adjusted his glasses, crossing his arms, looking Evan in the eyes for a moment.

“Ah. I thought he was pale when he entered the room this morning.” Then he nodded, giving a bow. “Of course. I’ll return as soon as possible.”

At that he left, and Roland gave Evan a slight nudge on his back.

“Go get back in bed. When he comes back with the medicine I’ll bring it to you.”

“Alright…”

Medicine was icky and it always tasted bitter, and he cringed at the thought of it. But he still turned with his ears drooping and walked the same path he came from his room, and by the time he reached the end of the hall he pushed the door back open, closing it behind him and removing his shoes. He took a deep breath and fell back onto the soft blankets, closing his eyes.

Roland really did remind him of father sometimes.

**Author's Note:**

> take ur fuckin medicine evan
> 
> want more ni no kuni stuff?? leave me prompts bc im living for this found family content
> 
> also this is badly written lmfao i have so many ni no kuni fics ive started but never finished bc i never liked them
> 
> part... 2 to this maybe?? where the family tries to take care of evan while he's sick and they're just kinda??


End file.
